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 The pitch explains how our film is centred around the life of a boy called Billy who has his life in danger. His brother, Stephen, was declared dead after a house fire over 10 years ago, in which Stephen was unable to be rescued and was the only casualty. It is soon discovered that Stephen is most definitely not dead, and also not the same friendly boy that he was remembered as. Stephen, bent on anger that he wasn't saved, now has targeted his own brother Billy in his psychopathic journey of anguish.

final draft opening sequence of forsaken

Final Draft Video from owen hethersay on Vimeo.

evaluation 7- preliminary.

Evaluation 4- audience members

Bellow is an example of a profile of a audience member that we tried to aim our sequence towards and who we agree would enjoy the film the most.

the way in which we were able to target specific social groups of people in for our opening sequence was through audience research, we carried this out by setting up surveys on websites asking different genders and ages of people what they did and didn't like about thrillers. for instance one question stated how you feel about scenes with gore or vilonce in them, this allowed for us to then take in the information and adjust our opening sequence to the social group or age and gender we preferred to target this was mainly decided through who enjoyed thrillers most but also what hobbies they enjoyed which was researched through a website named YouGovProfiles.

evaluation 6- technologies used during the opening sequence process

Question 3 distribution compnay

Audience feedback video- evaluation 5

Directors Commentary:



Audience Feedback Analyses:

This is our audience feedback video for the opening sequence, we asked 5 questions relating to the sequences storyline or shots to see what could have been improved and what was good about out opening sequence that was clear to the audience. The audience found the opening sequence intriguing and knew what type of genre we were trying to link the sequence to from the variation of shot techniques used and the sound which was overlaid on the opening sequence.

Did you notice the dark figure in the background?

All of the audience members stated that they were able to see the dark figure within the shot and that he could be seen easily, however one audience member said that his appearance and positioning in the shot was "subtle leaving us to wonder who he was and why he is important in the sequence"
Although two of the members stated that they were able to see the dark figure and gave an explanation as to what his appearance did to the mood of the sequence one member was only able to say yes and not give a reason as to what effect it had on the shots, this shows that not all of the audience viewers will recognise the meaning or purpose as to why we involved him in the background and can be improved on possibly by incorporating a sound which makes clear that he is not supposed to be there.

Do you think that the soundtrack suited the footage, if so state why?

One member of the audience stated that the soundtrack which was played over the top linked well to what was going on within the sequence, as a result of this I believe that it helps to make the audience relate to the footage as it will seem more realistic to them because there is a radio talking about an event which has happened locally to the characters area. they also said that the sound played over the top of the burning house was good as it related to what was in the shot and that it also increased the tension. Furthermore they claimed that the childish giggle in the nightmare sequence is relatable to that of a horror genre which made this sequence more affect as it helped to foreshadow what was going to happen later on in the opening sequence. this was done intentionally for this purpose as we wanted to make the audience believe that something bad was going to happen in the next scene which allows for the audience to be kept in suspense which is an ideal component of a thriller opening sequence as it provides us to build up a climax with ease making the audience overthink things that are going to happen later on. in relation to the radio soundtrack played over the top none of the audience members were able to relate it to the mood which we wanted to portray towards the audience as it gives the opening sequence a more eery mood to it, also linking back to the house fire none of audience members mentioned the gradual build up of the fire crackling which we wanted to make clear so that the audience get a sense of anxiety as they expect for a big ending to happen which doesn't happen as they are supposed to feel nervy for the rest of the opening sequence.

What did you think about the broken picture frame?
it left them wondering as to why the picture frame was broken, which was the purpose of the shot as it left the audience asking themselves question and lead them into anticipation of what the answer was. the audience will be intrigued as to what the meaning of the broken picture frame is meaning that they have to carry on watching leaving them gripped throughout the opening sequence. secondly the use of the broken picture frame implied that the man had been there before without the main character knowing so, it also comes as a shock to the audience as one member stated that "its scary and comes across shocking", another member said that the broken picture frame leaves the audience to wonder about the story in there head since they are not sure why the picture frame has been broken or who it has been done by. However none of the audience were able to speak about how the shot was fluent and used a shallow focus from the glass to the picture frame to show that it was broken, we used a shallow focused so that the audience would gradually realise what has happened however this didn't prove to be as affective as none of them felt that it had much relevance to the sequences mood
that was trying to be implemented into it. a way we could change or make this more clear is by showing the picture for a longer period of time so that they are left in shock to build up a bigger climax for the ending.

Did the lighting establish a tense atmosphere in the sequence?

The audience said that through the use of low key lighting contrasted a tense mood and atmosphere, the reason as to why they thought it created a tense atmosphere was because the shadows of objects were clearly seen which made each scene seem "eery and spooky". an example that was given of when the low key lighting was effective was in the various close ups at the beginning of the opening sequence as you could see objects but the setting around them was too dark to see where it was. from the feedback we were given I believe that the low key lighting was successfully in contrasting a tense atmosphere as the feedback stated that they found scenes eery or spooky which was the atmosphere we wanted to create for the audience. None of the audience members mentioned how the use of low key lighting helped to portray how early in the morning it was which is vital in our opening sequence since it helps to show how the main character is young working class man who has a stressful life waking up early and having to go to work for most of the day, it also shows how he is living a normal life like other people which we hoped the audience could feel repeatable to.

Did you have a basic understanding of the stories background?

The feedback that we got given back was that all of the members who watched the opening sequence understood what was happening in each scene, they understood the part which we wanted them to understand such as the flashbacks being linked to the main character which one person said. also that the sequences made sense, they didn't seem to be in a mixed up order where they didn't make sense with one another instead the scenes made sense when switching from one to another which gradually built up the storyline allowing for the audience to understand what relevance each shot had to the sequences story. although all of the audience members were able to have a clear understanding of what each scene was about not many of them could state what was happening in the flashbacks only that they had a relevance to the main characters past life, as a result of this we could try to make it more clear that the main character is related to the man in his flat but believes that he died in a house fire which was shown in the flashback. A way we can do this is by showing an object or image of both the main character and the dark figure with an object in the picture which can be seen on the dark figure to make clear who he is or what they thought may have happened to him.

Screencast:

construction 4

After we had completed the first draft we were able to see which shots we had to re-film or add in to make sure the meaning of our opening sequence was easier to understand. on the 1st of march we went back to jacks house during period 1 and 2 to shoot shots that will be added into the dream sequence in order for the suspense to build up as a bigger climax since we realised that the dream sequence was too long and made it harder to make it fast, due to this we managed to film two more shots that were added into the dream sequence in order to allow for fast paced editing to be used and create tension. Once these shots were completed to the standard we wanted them to we returned back at school for period 3 and reviewed the shots to see how we were going to edit them into the dream sequence.

construction 3

Then on the following Tuesday we imported all of the shots onto the MAC and opened up adobe premier pro which is where we edited the shots together to make sure that they were relatable to the storyboard which we created,  once we had edited in the shots which we wanted we got rid of the shots which were wrong or outtakes. after having edited in the shots and making sure we had them all we decided that we would add in title sequences and have the title 'Forsaken' at the end of the opening sequence.
in terms of editing we shortened down shots to add emotion and mood to the opening sequences since shorter shots usual contrast that there is something about to happen however we mislead the audience into believing this so that throughout the opening sequence they would be on the edge of their seats, we also attempted to make shots appear less shaky especially the shot where billy (the main character) is reaching down to pick up the bottle, the way in which we attempted to do this was by putting warp stabiliser over the top however this did not work as well since it zoomed in on the shot making it look distorted.

construction 2

We then filmed on the 5th February at jacks house for p4 and p5. throughout this filming session we fined the majority of shots without any faults, we filmed in the location of the living room and kitchen. When filming these shots we used a tripod to ensure that the shots were steady and didn't seem as if they were jolting, for example when i am walking away from the radio we used a tripod to make sure that the shot stayed in focus without the camera shaking. on the 6th of saturday we filmed the rest of the shots upstairs and done other shots in-between of object which we can cut to in order for the sequences to build tension which is ideal for a thriller.

construction post 1

To start off our opening sequence we began filming on the 2nd of February in DH2, the reason why we chose this setting was becasue of the low key lighting which helps create mystery as the audience will wonder who it is and why they are there. the use of a hoodie also hides the identity of the character to build suspense in the dream sequence.  I believe that this filming session went well since we got all of the shots that we intended to get done without being very time consuming.

(screenshot of shot)

This was our first draft complete.

evaluation 1- in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

evaluation 2- How does your media product represnet particular social groups?

Mental Illness Within Society

When framing our main protagonists ‘Billy’ it is immediately apparent that he is someone who suffers from mental illness when the framing is paired with the prop of the tablets skewed across the coffee table. This may highlight Billy’s over use of drugs and cosmetics that he feels will lift him from the state The isolation of the tablets within this shot creates a representation on how people who grieve from mental illness are seen as abnormal in comparison to regular society norms that everyone follows. Harmonising this shot with aspects of low-key lighting allows the audience to depict the character as weak and vulnerable in his state, making him unable to sight the fear and danger of the mysterious figure lurking within his home. At the same time, the essence of mental illness or ‘abnormality of mental health’ can be seen in the brothers driven ambition to receive revenge for past events. Using the costume specifically hiding the face of ‘Steven’ allows the mystery of the character to evolve over the time of the sequence. It allows the audience to believe that something may have happened to him in order to cause him to go on this psychotic path of revenge. 

The representation of mental illness in thriller movies is typically a negative one, often being used to explain away the reasons behind the antagonist's killings by depicting them to be 'crazy' or 'deranged', in order to create a villain that acts in ways that are not typical human behaviours and therefore make the audience uneasy. Mental illness is often used to be a source of apprehension in thrillers, as characters who suffer from it are displayed as unpredictable and dangerous. One of the most iconic examples of this is the Joker in the Batman series as, though it is never explicitly said that he is mentally ill, it is clear from both his behaviour, costume and the reoccurring mention of his childhood trauma ("You wanna' know how I got these scars?") that he is not mentally stable. The Joker is a character which kills ruthlessly, and often laughs whilst doing it, presenting him to be a cold-blooded killer and, consequently, presenting mentally ill people to be the same.

However, the Joker is not the only character that is a representation of mental illness in thriller movies. There are also several other films which feature mentally ill characters in the role of the villain - such as 'John Doe' in Se7en, who goes on a mass murder spree that follows the seven deadly sins. This is another common type of mentally ill characters, as they are often presented to be obsessive, often over niche things or topics. For example, John Doe with the seven sins, or the Joker with his scars. These strange obsessions are used to cause the audience to feel uneasy, as they are often strange obsessions that many people do not have, and therefore contribute to the character's strange behaviour. Although having an obsession alone is not necessarily dangerous behaviours, thrillers often turn these obsessions into it -- an example being, once again, John Doe. In addition to these examples, another common issue with the presentation of mentally ill characters is that they are often very two-dimensional when it concerns their mental illness. It is rarely explained what they have, how it was caused, or anything that could be used to allow the audience to understand the character's motives. Whilst understanding the character's motives would not necessarily make them a sympathetic character, and they should not be one, this absence of explanation translates badly on the representation of mentally ill people, as it causes them to be seen in a similar two-dimensional light. They are often defined by their illness, and many people are uneasy around those with mental illness because of the violent mentally ill characters found in movies. However, one example that challenges this in some ways is Kevin Katchadourian from We Need To Talk About Kevin, which closely follows his childhood and relationship with his mother and therefore what caused his issues later in life. However, this challenging of conventions does not extend throughout the whole film as, at the end, he commits a mass murder at his school.

Finally, one last example of the representation of mental illness is Vincent Grey in The Sixth Sense, who is a past patient of Dr. Malcolm Crowe. Unlike the Joker, John Doe and Kevin Katchadourian, Vincent Grey is presented in a less stoic, cold-blooded way, instead being presented as both mentally and emotionally unstable. This therefore presents him in a more sympathetic light, due to the fact he is sobbing and apologising, but it does not change the stereotypical representation of him in the fact that he shoots Crowe. Much like the other characters, Grey is also a dangerous mentally ill person and, regardless of whether he is reluctantly dangerous or not, he still remains an antagonist of the movie. This therefore contributes to the on going theme in the presentation of mentally ill people, especially due to the fact that although he is not stoic or cold-blooded he still behaves in an unusual manner -- such as the fact he is not wearing clothes, and that he broke into Crowe's house.

Working Class Male

Our opening sequence to the thriller film 'Forsaken' represents the young, working class male as having poor punctuality, being messy and disorganised. However, the character is not portrayed in a particularly bad light, and Billy's behaviour is relatable and typical of a young male his age. 

Through the use of this shot, we start to construct the representation of a young, working class male as being somewhat uncontrollable and sporadic. This is because he is shown sleeping on the couch, even though by the appearance of the house, it would be expected for him to have a bed. He is also shown holding alcohol in this shot, suggesting that he passed out, possibly late at night, after drinking. This, along with the close-up of the pills, adds to the construction of Billy having various problems in his life. 

Another representation constructed of white, working class males is that they are lazy and procrastinate. This can be seen in this shot as there are many dirty dishes visible that Billy seems to have neglected and not taken any interest in washing up. This may show his distraction in his work and how his monotonous lifestyle has taken up any free time he may want when coming home. This way of life may have cause Billy to become depressed with himself and the amount of work and pressure on his shoulders that he always seems to put before his social life away from work.  

Another representation constructed of white, working class males is that they are routine and live normal or average lives. To develop this idea that our character is average and doesn't live a special or privileged life, the morning routine is shown of our character getting ready. He does this in a normal manner and his clothes are not over extravagant. This helps with the aspect of the audience being able to relate to the character, and how he is just a seemingly ordinary person, but these events still occur.

Young working class men.

 young working class men are typical represented in thrillers as following a usual routine which they stick to doing throughout the movie scenes. these types of people are usually social towards work colleagues or friends who are around them, they would be social with work colleagues at bars or clubs after work or during a work break. These people are seen to be busy and have not much time to themselves which in thriller genres will usually leave the character becoming distressed leading them into depression since thriller films have conventions which include a charter who is abnormal compared to other characters in the film to give the movie an edge to it. 

An example of a young working class man in a thriller movie would be patrick Bateman in the film american psycho, the reason this film relates to the stereotypical young working class men is because the main character  is a sophisticated man who has a well paid job in new york during the day but in the night he turns into a serial killer who murders random people that anger him either at work or during the day, this reflects the frustration that high end jobs create for people and as you are lead to believe that he is a normal man due to the suit and appearance of him however the film takes an alternative view which makes the thriller more shocking

First draft analysis of opening sequence

Distribution company

Our chosen distribution company will be rogue which was initially founded in 1997 as PolyGram but the name was dropped in 2000 due to universal pictured buying PolyGram out. The reason why we have chosen this company is because the film which they create and publish are relatable to the opening sequence which we are going to create. Rogue have been responsible for films such as limitless and the unborn, both of these films are either thrillers or horrors which is what genre our opening sequence is, the way in which the company logo does this is from the high pitched sounds that are lengthened throughout also the dark lighting portrays that there isn't much good that can come from this. it covers all the aspects that our thriller has and as a result of this the target audience will become attached when seeing this first opening sequence as it will grip them from the very start because it is appealing towards them only. Plus the company is only a small one which is helpful for us as we are aiming for an independent film company meaning one which isn't well known by the public so that it fits in with the opening sequence more.

Props list

Casting for our opening sequence

animatic feedback

final ident for opening sequence

This is our ident for the openingn sequence of our film, the reason why we chose this layout was because the hand and eye create a mystreious and unatural feeling which links to the opening sequence as the genre is a thriller. also the sound of the water dripping creates a suspense atmosphere since it carrys on throughout  at a high pitch non stop leading the viewer to feel distressed and on edge.  finally through using the eye moving it makes the audience belive that something is going to happen and makes them become gripped to the screen.

location list

This is the first location that we will use to show the main characters lifestyle, the reason we are using this location is because it is open which allows us to pan the camera around the area without having any objects in the way. it also allows for us to smoothly change the location from the sofa to the living room as it can be seen in the background meaning less cuts need to be added in, finally the use of a sofa shows that the character doesn't have time to sleep in bed as he is constantly drinking downstairs which causes him to pass out on the sofa showing his carelessness and way of living alone.

in another shot we are using the stair way, the reason we are showing this is to build suspense and allow for the audience to see both scenes are linked when he goes up the stairs. it also allows for us to use a match on action shot as we can shoot a shot when the character is halfway up the stairs and then a shot showing him walking up the stairs from the top of the steps. its also linked to the first few shots as they are based in a house so it keeps the continuity of the editing.

finally the kitchen will be used in order to show the characters everyday life routine, he will be seen walking in and filmed putting something in the bin. the reason we chose to use this location is because it is narrow with good lighting from the window which allows for us to see the main character and also what he is doing without having a long shot from the door of him which would not have the same dramatic affect as a close up showing him walking into and out of the kitchen.

shooting schedule

actors list

costume list

in relation to the table above the costumes help to link the opening sequence to the genre which we aimed to follow, by using tracksuit bottoms and plain clothes we were able to hide the identity of the second main charcacter in order to make the atmosphere chilling as the audience are not sure about what is going on or who the person is which leaves them in suspense in mostly all of the scenes as they expect for the person to re occur.
also by using mainly dark clothing allowed for it to link to the context of the opening sequence *

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